During the last 20 years, SAM has developed a multiplicity of hypothesis-driven conservation and restoration projects. Being home to the oldest Community-based coral aquaculture and reef rehabilitation program in the Caribbean, we aim to develop a variety of scientific publications that highlight our commitment towards the conservatiion of our marine resources. Most publications are freely available on our website.
Peer reviewed publications
Hernández-Delgado, E. A.; Toledo-Hernández, C.; Ruíz-Díaz, C. P.; Gómez-Andújar, N.; Medina-Muñiz, J. L.; Canals-Silander, M. F.; Suleimán-Ramos, S. E. Hurricane Impacts and the Resilience of the Invasive Sea Vine, Halophila stipulacea: a Case Study from Puerto Rico. Journal Article In: Estuaries and Coasts, vol. 43, pp. 1263–1283, 2020. Soto-Santiago, Francisco J.; Mercado-Molina, Alex; Reyes-Maldonado, Koralis; Vélez, Yaileen; Ruiz-Díaz, Claudia P.; Sabat, Alberto Comparative demography of two common scleractinian corals: Orbicella annularis and Porites astreoides Journal Article In: PeerJ, vol. 5, pp. 1-18, 2017.2020
@article{Hernández-Delgado2020,
title = {Hurricane Impacts and the Resilience of the Invasive Sea Vine, \textit{Halophila stipulacea}: a Case Study from Puerto Rico.},
author = {E. A. Hernández-Delgado and C. Toledo-Hernández and C. P. Ruíz-Díaz and N. Gómez-Andújar and J. L. Medina-Muñiz and M. F. Canals-Silander and S. E. Suleimán-Ramos},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12237-019-00673-4
},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00673-4},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-08},
urldate = {2020-01-08},
journal = {Estuaries and Coasts},
volume = {43},
pages = {1263–1283},
abstract = {Category five hurricanes Irma and María (September 2017) caused significant damage to shallow seagrass communities across Puerto Rico. The magnitude and spatial extent of hurricane impacts on representative seagrass habitats of Culebra Island were addressed using a combination of random photo-quadrats and before–after hurricanes GIS-based imagery analyses. There was a significant loss of shallow seagrasses across all nine surveyed locations. Most of the documented impacts were associated with sediment bedload (horizontal transport), which resulted in burial and suffocation. There was also localized physical disruption of the seagrass habitat matrix across locations exposed to stronger wave action, creating major scars and exposing below-ground structure to further disintegration by future storm events. Displaced coral rubble also caused seagrass burial. Aerial imagery analyses (2007, 2010, 2017) showed a significant decline in seagrass percent cover. Seagrass decline was positively correlated with wave exposure (p < 0.05). Seagrass cover, density, and changes in benthic community structure were documented across five of the surveyed locations during 2018, and these data were further compared to data collected in 2004 at these same sites. There was a decline in percent seagrass cover and density and a change in benthic community structure favoring habitat homogenization. A remarkable finding was the rapid recovery, expansion, and increased localized dominance of the invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea. This was particularly evident in areas impacted by recurrent land-based runoff pulses, anchoring, sediment resuspension due to navigation, trampling or by the accumulation of decaying Sargassum mats. Hurricanes triggered a localized shift in marine vegetation, favoring the invasion of H. stipulacea, with potentially significant consequences on ecosystem resilience and on the ability of native in seagrasses to persist and adapt to projected climate change impacts.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2017
@article{Soto-Santiago2017,
title = {Comparative demography of two common scleractinian corals: \textit{Orbicella annularis} and \textit{Porites astreoides}},
author = {Francisco J. Soto-Santiago and Alex Mercado-Molina and Koralis Reyes-Maldonado and Yaileen Vélez and Claudia P. Ruiz-Díaz and Alberto Sabat},
editor = {James Reimer},
url = {https://peerj.com/articles/3906/#
https://peerj.com/articles/3906/https://www.sampr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/comparative-demography-of.pdf},
doi = {10.7717/peerj.3906},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-10-27},
urldate = {2017-10-27},
journal = {PeerJ},
volume = {5},
pages = {1-18},
abstract = {Background: Studies directed at understanding the demography and population dynamics of corals are relatively scarce. This limits our understanding of both the dynamics of coral populations and our capacity to develop management and conservation initiatives directed at conserving such ecosystems.
Methods: From 2012 to 2014, we collected data on the growth, survival, and recruitment rates of two common Caribbean coral species, the stress-tolerant Orbicella annularis and the weedy Porites astreoides. A set of size-based population matrix model was developed for two localities in Northeastern Puerto Rico and used to estimate population growth rates ( >) and determine the life cycle transition(s) that contribute the most to spatiotemporal differences in >s. The model was parameterized by following the fate of 100 colonies of each species at the two sites for two years.
Results: Our data indicate that spatial variability in vital rates of both species was higher than temporal variability. During the first year, populations of O. annularis exhibited s below equilibrium at Carlos Rosario (0.817) and Palomino (0.694), followed by a considerable decline at both sites during the second year (0.700 and 0.667). Populations of P. astreoides showed higher > s than O. annularis during the first census period at Carlos Rosario (0.898) and Palomino (0.894) with a decline at one of the sites (0.681 and 0.893) during the second census period. Colony fate in both species exhibited a significant interaction with respect to location but not to time (G2 = 20.96; df = 3 for O. annularis and G2 = 9.55; df = 3 for P. astreoides). Discussion: The similar variability of s as well as the similar survival rates for both species during the two-year census period (2012–2014) show similar variability on demographic patterns in space and time. Our results suggest that location rather than time is important for the resiliency in coral colonies. Also, P. astreoides will show higher resistance to disturbance in the future than O. annularis.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Methods: From 2012 to 2014, we collected data on the growth, survival, and recruitment rates of two common Caribbean coral species, the stress-tolerant Orbicella annularis and the weedy Porites astreoides. A set of size-based population matrix model was developed for two localities in Northeastern Puerto Rico and used to estimate population growth rates ( >) and determine the life cycle transition(s) that contribute the most to spatiotemporal differences in >s. The model was parameterized by following the fate of 100 colonies of each species at the two sites for two years.
Results: Our data indicate that spatial variability in vital rates of both species was higher than temporal variability. During the first year, populations of O. annularis exhibited s below equilibrium at Carlos Rosario (0.817) and Palomino (0.694), followed by a considerable decline at both sites during the second year (0.700 and 0.667). Populations of P. astreoides showed higher > s than O. annularis during the first census period at Carlos Rosario (0.898) and Palomino (0.894) with a decline at one of the sites (0.681 and 0.893) during the second census period. Colony fate in both species exhibited a significant interaction with respect to location but not to time (G2 = 20.96; df = 3 for O. annularis and G2 = 9.55; df = 3 for P. astreoides). Discussion: The similar variability of s as well as the similar survival rates for both species during the two-year census period (2012–2014) show similar variability on demographic patterns in space and time. Our results suggest that location rather than time is important for the resiliency in coral colonies. Also, P. astreoides will show higher resistance to disturbance in the future than O. annularis.